Premiere Standard Subscription Clauses Void

The pay-TV channel Premiere lost a case before the BGH (re III ZR 247/06, November 15, 2007), which had been initiated by consumer protection agencies, because it used unfair standard stipulations concerning changes in prices and services in its standard contract The judges saw a danger of “indiscriminate price increases”.


1.3… 2Unabhängig davon behält sich Premiere vor, das Programmangebot, die einzelnen Kanäle, die Nutzung der einzelnen Kanäle sowie die Zusammensetzung der Programmpakete zum Vorteil der Abonnenten zu ergänzen, zu erweitern oder in sonstiger Weise zu verändern.
1.3. 2Independent of the above, Premiere reserves itself the right to supplement, enlarge, or to change in other manner the program, the single channels, the use of the single channels, as well as the composition of the program packages to the advantage of the subscribers.

3.61 Premiere kann die vom Abonnenten monatlich zu zahlenden Beträge erhöhen, wenn sich die Kosten für die Bereitstellung des Programms erhöhen. … 3Der Abonnent ist berechtigt, den Vertrag auf den Zeitpunkt des Wirksamwerdens der Erhöhung zu kündigen, wenn die Erhöhung 5 % oder mehr des ursprünglichen Abonnementpreises ausmacht.
3.61 Premiere can raise the subscriber’s monthly payments when the costs of supplying the programs increase. … 3The subscriber is entitled to give notice when the price increase comes into effect if the raise is 5% or more of the previous subscription price.

6.51 Premiere behält sich vor, bei einer Änderung/Umstrukturierung des Programmangebots die Abonnementbeiträge abweichend von Ziffer 3.6 zu ändern. 2In diesem Fall ist (der Abonnent/)Premiere berechtigt, das Abonnement zum Zeitpunkt des Wirksamwerdens der geplanten Änderung schriftlich zu kündigen. 3Stimmt der Abonnent der Leistungsänderung zu, kann Premiere die Preisstruktur anpassen, ohne daß dies ein Kündigungsrecht des Abonnenten auslöst.
6.51 Premiere reserves itself the right to change the subscription fees, deviating from no 3.6, when the program supply is either changed or restructured. 2In this case, the subscriber and Premiere can give notice in writing effective at the beginning of the planned change. When the subscriber agrees with the change in service then Premiere will be entitled to adapt its price structure, without the subscriber obtaining the right to terminate the contract.


The Federal Supreme Court considered these stipulations as null and void. The law of standard terms and conditions, as regulated in §§305 ff. BGB. §307 BGB, orders the invalidity of such term when it is of unreasonable disadvantage for the customer. The law assumes the unreasonable advantage when important principles of the law are violated or circumvented.

The far-reaching reservation to change the program supply (no 1.3) is already invalid because this does not only relate to certain and important reasons. The reduction of program changes to the benefit of the subscriber does not guarantee the required minimum for calculation and transparency. The subscriber wanting to choose from a broad package in accordance to his wishes cannot foresee at the time of closing the contract which package he would be having without his consent. Even though such changes could be for the subscriber’s benefit, this clause is still not reasonable.

No 3.6. is illegal because it unreasonably disadvantages the subscriber’s rights vis-a-vis the rules of good faith and equity (§242 BGB). It is too indistinct because the raise just generally depends on a raise of costs of supplying the program without any further differentiation and neither relates to the supply costs nor determines the amount of the raise. The subscriber cannot foresee either where costs can raise or can he test the justification of a raise in relation to this stipulation. This cannot be justified by the subscriber being able to extraordinarily terminate the contract when the raise is 5% or more.

The reservation in no. 6.5. sentence 1 of changing/restructuring the program means for the subscriber another unreasonable disadvantage. This is a one-sided price increase from Premiere without its client having the possibility to see to which amount increases in the price will be and by which measures prices are to raised. This is also not justified by the right for an extraordinary termination of the contract. Besides, this stipulation of an extraordinary right to cancel the contract violates the statutory principle that extraordinary notices relate to an important reason.

Closing remark:

As these clauses have been abolished by court, the question arises: What now governs the contractual relationship? The agreed or accepted (after an increase following the standard terms and conditions) prices remain valid. Whenever Premiere wants to change them, this company will have to negotiate with their customer.

Published on the old CMS: 2007/12/5
Read on the old CMS till November 2008: 1,280 reads

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